Mathematics > Logic

Title:Invariant measures concentrated on countable structures

Abstract: Let L be a countable language. We say that a countable infinite L-structure M
admits an invariant measure when there is a probability measure on the space of
L-structures with the same underlying set as M that is invariant under
permutations of that set, and that assigns measure one to the isomorphism class
of M. We show that M admits an invariant measure if and only if it has trivial
definable closure, i.e., the pointwise stabilizer in Aut(M) of an arbitrary
finite tuple of M fixes no additional points. When M is a Fraisse limit in a
relational language, this amounts to requiring that the age of M have strong
amalgamation. Our results give rise to new instances of structures that admit
invariant measures and structures that do not.